computer can't boot into windows

[yeedog]

I leave my computer on 24/7 and this morning when i woke up and turned my monitor on i wasn't getting a signal. So i decided to reboot by hitting the power switch.

While rebooting I had dots all over my screen when it was posting and when the windows logo was on the screen. I can never get past the windows logo as after that screen I just automatically loose my signal again.

I opened up the case and pointed a desk fan into the computer but I still can't get past the above problem. I read on the net that the dots on the screen can be a heat related problem but the fan trick doesn't solve it so I have no idea what is wrong.

Anybody know what is wrong??

 

[mechBgon]

Can you post the system's specs in detail

 

[yeedog]

Sure

AMD X2 3800+
Epox 9NPA Ultra
1GB RAM DDR400 (PC3800)
MSI ATI Radeon X800 Pro (RX800-TD256E) pciE
Game Theatre XP sound card
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-450 ATX12V 450W
3 optical drives
4 maxtor Harddrives of vairous sizes

All the hard drives spin up when I turn the computer on so I don't think it's that. I think it is some kind of video card problem personally. I buit the system last fall and really never had any problems until today.

when i rebooted this morning I saw my CPU temp as 52C usually it's around 42C but my room was 80F this morning.

I've left the computer off for a while with the desk fan on an still pointed into the case and tried to restart a gain with still the same problem.


Edit:

oh ya i don't have another video card so I can't swap it out to see if that is the problem unless I go out and buy a new one

 

[mechBgon]

You might go to a small computer shop and ask to buy a cheap old used PCI video card like a Cirrus Logic PCI card, to determine whether the video card is at fault. And if it's the video card, you can use your substitute card while your good one's out for RMA

Given the video artifacts showing even during POST, it sure does sound like a video-card failure to me too

 

[yeedog]

cool thanks confirming my suspicions. Tho i would think I would atleast be able to get into windows and not just loose the signal after the windows logo screen. I can get in via safe mode, strage enough.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: yeedog
cool thanks confirming my suspicions. Tho i would think I would atleast be able to get into windows and not just loose the signal after the windows logo screen. I can get in via safe mode, strage enough.

Interesting. In Safe Mode, does it still have the speckled-screen problem?

 

[yeedog]

Nope it actually doesn't have the problem in safe mode, but there is no windwos logo screen when you boot into safe mode. It always occurs when posting.

Does this lead you to the problem being something else?

 

[mechBgon]

I'm speculating as usual. One thing I would do, is to check the PSU voltages in the BIOS, or better yet with a multimeter if you have one, and make sure the PSU is within 5% of rated voltages, to help build my confidence that it's really the video card's problem. You'd hate to RMA and then find out it wasn't the card after all

 

[yeedog]

the voltages look good in the BIOS

+3.3 = 3.28
+5 = 4.96